"Empire" and Imperialism

After world war two, the division of colonial lands into new nation states had a great impact on what Science Fiction is today. During this period three key events occurred: the world market was reorganized along hierarchical lines branching out from the United States, there was a decentralization and diffusion of production among the new nations, and the construction of international relations that spread a disciplinary productive regime and with it a disciplinary society. By decentralizing production among the former colonies there were new power relations set in place. The geographical boundaries began to matter less and less because the world market does not have very much use for them. In securing power it became less necessary to use military force and instead the dollar became the instrument of disciplinization. Countries were more invested in becoming globally recognized because that means becoming economically viable. By having the means for production of a product recognized on a global market, money can flow into a country. For developing nations this revenue stream holds great importance. What is witnessed in these events is a break from the imperialism of Europe to new structure based on economic viability through production. These changes were not enacted by governments but instead through corporations that transcend national boundaries. These corporations brought technology, mobilized work forces, and collected flows of wealth in the post-colonial nations. These Corporations certainly brought jobs and therefore revenue to developing nations but they also brought with them disciplinization. By bringing in so many jobs the corporations were very powerful in these countries. In some instances it has been observed that the countries structure actually developed around the corporations instead of the corporations needing to structure themselves within the pre-existing political climate. As an affect the corporations then become the disciplinarian. When a country wants to improve worker conditions they had better not do it at the expense of the corporations or risk losing important revenue. Also, by being based in several countries, transnationals have created a new system of power, in the global environment, based on the flow of money. Therefore it is crucial for the countries to keep production high and therefore enrich their economy. The country's no longer produce goods mainly for their own consumption, but instead for sale on the global market. This is the situation in which a lot of third world science fiction emerges. The people see the controlling forces and write what they see. New corporations bringing "better" technology accompanied by the promise of a better life leads to examples like those found in Ginway. (Almost all of this comes from "Empire" by Hardt and Negri)